MLL: Cannons Comeback Stuns Lizards

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Boston Cannons (5-2)
extended their home winning streak to four games by completing an
improbable comeback to defeat the Long Island Lizards (2-5) 17-14
on Saturday evening in front of a raucous crowd of 7,356 at Harvard
Stadium. Jordan Burke was named Bud Light MVP for helping to
jump-start his team, stopping 7 out of 8 Long Island shots he faced
as a second half substitute. Matt Poskay increased his MLL goal
scoring lead by notching six goals, giving him 34 points on the
season.

Paul Rabil opened the scoring for the Cannons, rifling home a long
distance goal under a minute into the contest to give Boston a
quick 1-0 lead. Stephen Berger retaliated almost immediately for
Long Island, scoring his eighth goal of the year to even the score.
The Cannons then scored three consecutive goals, two from team
co-captain Poskay and a nifty tally by Kevin Buchanan to race out
in front 4-1. Stephen Peyser cut the Boston lead in half by scoring
with just 47 seconds left in the first period, leaving the score
4-2 in favor of the Cannons.

The Lizards carried over their momentum from the end of the first
by scoring three unanswered goals from Tim Goettelmann, Matt
Danowski and Zach Greer to jump out to a 5-4 lead. Max Quinzani
scored Boston’s lone goal of the quarter, taking advantage of
a Long Island penalty to tie the score 5-5. Greer, who proved to be
a thorn in the Cannons side, scored two consecutive goals after
Boston’s tally to give Long Island a two goal advantage. The
quarter ended with Joel Dalgranoand Greg Gurenlian both scoring
under a minute to play to give the Lizards a 9-5 lead heading into
the locker room.

The second half opened with the Lizards scoring four consecutive
goals from Dalgarno, Greer (two) and Mike Ward to open up a
commanding 13-5 lead. Boston did not pack it in, as Jordan
Burketook over in net for Kip Turner and turned away the Lizards,
giving the Cannons some much needed life. Boston’s offense
fed off of Burke and closed out the quarter by scoring seven on two
Rabil 2-point goals, and tallies from Ryan Boyle, Poskay and
Buchanan to come within one, 13-12.

Mitch Belisle scored just over one minute into the fourth quarter
to complete the Cannons miraculous comeback, tying the game
13-13. Buchanan followed that goal with one of his own,
giving Boston a lead they would not relinquish, 14-13. Poskay
scored the Cannons final three goals, the first of which capped a
10-0 Boston run. Greer scored the only Long Island goal to give him
six on the evening, as the Lizards disappeared in the second
half.

While Burke was the star of the contest, he stayed modest after
seeing his first significant action of the season, giving praise to
his teammates for the comeback. “We were all unbelievable out
there, it was great getting the call to go out there and help my
team, but I have to give all the credit to this team, we
didn’t fold when the going got tough.”